1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid ejection apparatus, and more particularly, to a technology and structure for controlling the ejection of a liquid ejection head which ejects liquid onto an ejection receiving medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inkjet recording apparatus having an inkjet type of print head forms a desired image on a medium by ejecting ink from a plurality of nozzles provided in the print head. There are inkjet recording apparatuses which comprise actuators provided in the pressure chambers which accommodate ink to be ejected from the nozzles, and cause ink to be ejected from the nozzles by causing the pressure chambers to expand and contract. In a method of this kind, various means are devised for utilizing the resonance effect of the pressure wave generated in the pressure chamber in order to perform ejection and refilling at high speed.
In the inkjet recording apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-226106, a first signal for causing a pressure generating chamber to expand is applied for a time period shorter than the period of the Helmholtz resonance frequency, and a second signal for holding the expanded state of the pressure generating chamber is applied for a time period of ½ or less of the Helmholtz period, whereby the vibration of the meniscus is reduced to a minimum and small ink droplets having reduced smearing due to satellite drops can be ejected stably at a high frequency.
However, in the inkjet recording apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-226106, a third signal for ejecting ink from the nozzles is applied for a time period equal to or above the Helmholtz period, and therefore, the time taken to perform one ejection becomes longer and consequently, the ejection time period cannot be shortened. In particular, at the viscosity of generally used inks, the residual vibration of the pressure wave generated after ejection is not attenuated, and the third signal is applied for a time period equal to or above the Helmholtz period in order to attenuate the residual vibration of the pressure wave.